Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jonathan Aizen, Founder and CEO of Amitree, located in San Francisco, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Folio by Amitree helps busy professionals streamline their email workflow by automatically organizing email and enabling the management of projects from within the inbox. Millions of professionals work on complex projects and processes with their clients and numerous external stakeholders. Because the parties don't work together at the same company, projects must be managed by email, which is inefficient and tedious. Folio uses AI to automatically organize email by project, allowing users to quickly create professional timelines that impress clients and keep projects on track - all from within Gmail. Folio's Gmail sidebar makes it easy to quickly add and assign tasks, add important dates, and update existing events while viewing project-related emails. Project timelines, documents, and contacts are populated automatically from email content, and project-related information appears automatically whenever an email about the project is viewed. Folio's timelines enable users to automatically remind participants in the project about important milestones and easily provide updates as the project moves along, saving users countless hours updating status and reminding others about important tasks.
Folio is used by 100,000+ professionals across many industries, with particular prominence in the residential real estate industry.
Tell us about yourself
I have been a technology entrepreneur my entire life. I learned to code at age eight and started my first business at thirteen. I am passionate about empowering people with technology by understanding the problems people have, solving them, and scaling the solution so that it positively impacts as many people as possible.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
My previous company, Dapper, was acquired by Yahoo! To take the company through the full lifecycle from inception to acquisition was a highlight for me. At Amitree, I am proud that our product is used by 100,000+ busy professionals to enable them to do what they do best, better.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
At the end of the day, as the founder and CEO, everything is your responsibility. The burden of that responsibility is hard... but rewarding!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Understand that once you're in, you're in for the long haul. Once employees and customers depend on you, you can't just pick up and leave. So be sure that you're in love with what you're working on, and be prepared for it to take a long time.
- People are everything. Your team and your customers are what matter most. Without them, there is no business.
- Learn how to listen and listen as much as you can. Entrepreneurs tend to be great at talking and selling, but more important is to know how to listen and how to make sense of what you're hearing.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.amitree.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amitreeinc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitreeinc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonaizen/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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